Ninja finally comes to India

Kawasaki Ninja 250R has finally been launched in India after so much of waiting. But it seems the price may play a spoilsport. It has been priced at Rs. 2.7 lacs. Compare this price with the 225cc Hero Honda liquid-cooled and fuel-injection bike priced at Rs. 91000 only.

Ninja will be imported as completely knocked down (CKD) units and will be assembled at Bajaj’s Chakan plant. This means that Kawasaki has successfully avoided the import duty (almost 100%) on foreign made bikes and cars. Just imagine the price if Kawasaki would have decided to directly import the bike. Nevertheless, the bike still seems to be overpriced. Let us have a quick look at the features of the bike and then compare it with other bikes present in the Indian market to see whether Ninja can justify its price of Rs. 2.7 lacs. Here we go…

Features and specifications:

• 250cc liquid cooled engine
• 6-speed transmission
• DOHC (Double Overhead Camshaft head) – this is helpful in boosting power of the bike, but only at higher torques.
• Two-caliper single disc brakes. Front hydraulic 290mm. Rear 220mm petal disc.
• 18 liter fuel tank
• 151 kg dry weight (without fuel, engine oil and liquid coolant)
• Digital ignition
• Max torque – 22 Nm @9500 rpm
• Top speed – 170 kmph
• Fuel efficiency – 25-30 kmpl

Compare this with Pulsar 220 or the new Karizma ZMR, and you will find that Ninja 250R takes the top slot in features, power and top speed, but loses on fuel efficiency and price.

Kawasaki Ninja 250R	Hero Honda Karizma ZMR	Bajaj Pulsar 220
250cc Liquid cooled engine 6 speed transmission 17″ wheels 18 liter fuel tank Max torque – 22 Nm @9500 rpm Top speed – 170 kmph Fuel efficiency – 25-30 kmpl Price – Rs. 270000	225cc Liquid cooled engine 5 speed transmission 18″ wheels 15 liter fuel tank Max torque – 18 Nm @6000 rpm Top speed – 126 kmph Fuel efficiency – 25-30 kmpl Price – Rs. 95000	220cc Air cooled engine 5 speed transmission 17″ wheels 15 liter fuel tank Max torque – 19 Nm @6500 rpm Top speed – 144 kmph Fuel efficiency – 35-40 kmpl Price – Rs. 75000

Price of Ninja 250R in USA is $4299, which means approximately Rs. 2.1 lacs. If people in USA are paying only Rs. 2.1 lac for this bike, then why the hell should we be paying more? This could be blamed to the reason that Kawasaki is not manufacturing any of the bike parts in India. Even though the bike is coming as a knocked down unit to India, it still attracts a lot of import duty. If Kawasaki could have entrusted Bajaj of being more than just a technology partner, then we could be buying cheaper Kawasaki bikes. Probably Kawasaki did not find Bajaj manufacturing good enough for its bikes.

Probably we could wait a bit more, and expect the prices to come down. The bike is superb; no doubt about that. But it seems to be a bit heavy on the pocket.

Overall Rating: 9/10

Rating with price tag: 6/10

Hero Honda launches Karizma ZMR

What’s new?

• Programmed fuel injection will replace the spark plug
• Oil-cooled engine
• Rear disc brakes
• Improved dashboard
• Tubeless tyres
• Inflated on-road price of Rs. 95000 in Mumbai
• Improved looks

Advantages

• Fuel injection can improve mileage
• Oil-cooled engine can take this tourer to much  longer distances
• Safer driving with rear-disc brakes and tubeless tyres

Disadvantages

• Increased kerb weight could neutralize the mileage advantage of fuel injection
• 18 inch wheels give the bike a higher centre of gravity, which is not good for stability of the bike at higher speeds
• Overpriced

Comparison with Pulsar 220

• Karizma wins
  • Oil-cooled engine
  • Fuel injection
• Pulsar wins
  • Price is very low at Rs. 75000 on road.
  • Better stability with 17 inch wheels, due to lower center of gravity
  • Top speed 144 kmph as against Karizma’s 126 kmph

Bajaj has stopped production of Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi (the fuel injection version), as this technology is very costly. Probably this is the reason Karizma has such a high price. Price of Karizma is higher also due to introduction of oil-coolant, but this feature is worth paying the price for.

Overall Rating: 6/10

Bajaj Pulsar – Copycats!!!

Bajaj Pulsar stormed into the Indian market a few years back. Everyone was really astonished to see such a trendsetter bike from Bajaj Auto, which earlier had been struggling to have any footing against Hero Honda in the market. Earlier Bajaj bikes were a real disgrace as compared to Hero Honda bikes. But suddenly Bajaj introduced Pulsar, and everyone was in praises for Bajaj for making and giving the Indian public such a nice bike.

But did anyone wonder how Bajaj Auto created this mean machine overnight, and where did they got the expertise to do this? Does not matter if you did or not, but I did. And here is what I found – Bajaj Pulsar seems to be an Indian version of the Kawasaki Ninja. You will be able to relate the Pulsar more closely to Ninja once you recall that earlier Bajaj Auto had a joint venture with Kawasaki to manufacture bikes in India. What happened to the JV is not very clear, but definitely by this time Bajaj had borrowed enough from Kawasaki Ninja to copy it and create Pulsar.

Another claim which Pulsar made to capture the market attention was the dual spark plug technology. But Pulsar hate club would be really happy to know that dual spark technology was patented long ago in 1989 by Benjamin L. Sheaffer, in the US (patent no. US4844025).

Though Kawasaki Ninja does not use a spark plug, but it has also got a similar type of technology. Ninja uses twin DFI (Direct Fuel Injection), which seems very much similar to Pulsar’s twin spark plug. Interesting!!!

The image shows that Bajaj copied the whole design as it is, didnt even try to modify anything. May be they were so under-confident about their design skills that they could not risk any design changes, lest they would end up creating a much inferior design.

I am going to narrate a personal experience which led me to this investigation. I saw an old Kawasaki bike sometime back parked somewhere in Mumbai. When I inspected the bike in a bit more detail, then some of its design and patterns looked very familiar. I had just started to wonder that may be I am being a bit cynical, but then suddenly I realized that the bike looked very much similar to our own Bajaj Pulsar.

I feel really ashamed that India does not have any genuine talent. Bajaj copied most of the Ninja, and simply made some modifications so that it does not become very much obvious. Even its claim of using twin spark plug for the first time turned out to be a fake one.

I hope that the new generation does not follow Bajaj’s footsteps. I wish we could create something totally genuine and yet world class.

How India beat China in small car sales?

Reports say that Indian small car exports grew by 44% in the last seven months, and China saw a drop in small car exports by almost 60%. Not just China, even Thailand and South Korea have seen drastic fall in their exports of entry level cars. Though India is nowhere close to Japan or South Korea in terms of absolute numbers of cars exported, but it sure has carved a niche for small car manufacturing in the past one year. India has already outnumbered China even in terms of total cars exported. This has been a reality check for China, which was until now the leader in manufacturing and exports among the developing economies.

Both India and China have been hotspots for outsourcing by global giants to cut their operational costs. China had been a clear leader until now. But India has been fast catching up. Let us try to understand what India did and where China went wrong.

• Difficult Laws: Chinese laws make it mandatory for any foreign firm to have a joint venture with at least 50% capital held by a local partner. India does not have any such law. Companies prefer India because they get full control of their operations in India, and not in China. Operating in India also saves them a lot of profit which they would have to share with the partners in China.
• Labour Cost: India has been faring better than China in the global labour cost advantage index for almost 7 years now. Chinese media came out with reports last year which mentioned sudden steep rise in labour costs in China. Though India has also seen a rise in the average labour cost, but it has been much lower as compared to China.
• Corporate Tax: Indian corporate tax laws for foreign companies fare better than the Chinese equivalents. India taxes a non-Indian domiciled country only for the income on its local territory. China does not have any such provision.

Now some reasons which favour India over China, but China could not have helped it.

• Booming Market: Indian small car sector is yet to see a boom, as the annual sales still do not cross 0.12mn. China saw a jump in small car sales, shooting the sales volume to almost 1.2mn. But by the time any foreign player sets up a manufacturing unit in China, that unit would have lost its profitability due to a saturated market. Indian market is still waiting to see a boom in this segment. So, all the car manufacterers do not want to miss the party. All of these manufacturers have witnessed a saturated local market in their home countries and have also seen many global giants go out of business. To avoid the same fate they have started camping in greener pastures like India.
• Competition: With the TATA Nano all set to roll into the market, everyone wants to share the pie. To do this the foreign companies must come down to the local market so that they can have very competitive prices against the Nano and other small cars. This has resulted in companies doing a lot of R&D and cutting down on a lot on operational costs. Due to this all the foreign manufacturers based in India have come up with quality products with prices which are the lowest on this globe. Definitely these low cost cars will be in demand everywhere, thanks to recession. This is one of the biggest reasons that India exports more cars than its own consumption.
• Location: This is the best of all. India is so well geographically located at the center of the developing economies of south Asia, eastern Africa and eastern Europe. India lies at the center of the trade routes for the World minus America. Transportation costs to other countries from China is very difficult from its eastern ports, and it is landlocked on the other sides.
• Language: One more indirect reason is ease of technology transfer to India. With such a good command over the English language, technology transfer to India is a very easy task for most of the companies. Compare the same with China and you will find how much of extra work comes in when you have to transfer all your technology to the Chinese in Chinese language. 🙂

We are expecting that soon India will be able to beat China in all sectors of manufacturing. Cheers!!!

Yamaha Fazer 150 – Review

Yamaha Fazer 150cc is a bike which has been designed typically for the Indian market. Fazer was launched in July, 2009. This bike has been typically targeting the upcoming sector of long distance travelers or tourers. Priced at Rs. 72000, the Fazer does not come very heavy on your wallet. With a mileage of almost 60 kmpl, this bike ensures that you could plan some long drives.

Let us have a quick look at the specifications and features:

• Air cooled 153cc engine
• Dry/Kerb weight – 130/141 kg
• 12 liter fuel tank
• 5 speed gearbox
• Electric start
• Brakes: Front/Rear – Disc/Drum
• Twin 35W headlamps
• Wide 140mm tubeless tyres
• 7-times adjustable monocross suspension
• LCD meter console
• Meter console and headlamp placed on cowl/hood

The features mentioned above definitely does not having anything which is a breakthrough technology or something which is very new in the market. But let us analyse that how these features are going to affect the performance and ride quality, specially for long distance rides.

The good points:

• With a superb mileage, you could always go long distances without ever worrying about money.
• The low kerb weight of Fazer makes handling very easy.
• Twin headlamps and the LCD meter console give you much better visibility on highways at night.
• The cowl/hood gets you rid of the headlamp weight from the handle. This makes your bike handle very light and suitable for long distance drives.
• The wide tyres give you better control for long distance and straight driving.
• 7-times adustable monocross suspension gives you a lot of flexibility on the ride quality according to the road conditions.
• Tubeless tyres make the ride safe and less prone to be being flattened on being punctured.

The bad points:

• Designed for long distance traveling, Fazer should have come with an oil cooled engine. Absence of this could lead to overheating of engine when the bike is driven for very long distances continuously, specially in hot conditions.
• Absence of kick start could leave you stranded in the middle of a highway if your electric start malfunctioned.
• Wide tyres give better control, but reduce fuel efficiency. So, if this bike was being projected as a tourer bike, the tyres could have been less wider.
• No provision has been made for keeping or tying up your extra luggage. You cannot travel long distances with a small pooch bag on your shoulders. You need to carry a lot of stuff.

The riding posture is pretty good for long distances. But the major drawback is that Fazer inherits most of its design and engine from FZ16, which was designed for city driving. With the same design and minor modifications, you cannot just push a bike for long distance travelling. The gear changing in FZ16, and hence in Fazer, is very short, which is very good for quick pickup and fast city driving. With the same gearbox you cannot go long distances.

As we have heard, the Yamaha Fazer had a large number of bookings, but the suppliers have failed to deliver all the bikes on time. This is a serious thumbs down and has badly hit the popularity of this bike. Its a good bike, but if you wish to wait, then probably you could get hold of some better versions of this bike.

Overall rating: 7/10

Bajaj Pulsar 180 DTSi – 2009 : Usage and Price review

You all might be thinking that why this review for the 180cc hunk after the bike was revealed 3 months ago, and this bike already has got the attention it deserved. But this is the right time when this bike should be reviewed again…after 3 months of on-road usage. Everyone reviewed the bike when it was new…and just dumped their initial thoughts on you. But when you wanna invest your hard-earned money on your dream machine, you really expect someone to tell the first hand inside story after riding the bike. So, here it is…

Buying this bike is a very simple affair. Just stash all your money in a briefcase and visit any nearby Bajaj Probiking store. They promise to deliver the bike within 10 days if you have sufficient documents for registration. Though I had a a hard time as Mumbai is a bit short on Probiking stores, and I also didnt have enough documents with me. This mean machine will cost you something less than Rs. 73000 in Mumbai (the taxes are pretty high here). The money was  the only thing I had with me. So, they took the money and booked one for me. And they did deliver the bike as soon as I had the documents given to them. Price of the bike is very very competitive…when you compare the price with other bikes like the Yamaha FZ-16 or Yamaha Fazer or TVS Apache RTR-180, then you will realize that pulsar 180 has got the biggest engine for the least price, with the best features and dashboard functionalities.

The waiting part is over. Now its you and your dream machine. Now what…just ride and ride. Let your bike take the first toddling steps. Dont cross 60 kmph for the first 500 kms. Its good for the engine. Once you cross 500 kms, send your bike for its first checkup. Dont worry…everythings fine with your bike…they just wanna change the engine oil.

Now that your bike is out of the nursing home…it is ready to become what it was destined to…the beast…the mean machine. This is the time I felt that this bike needs some extra attention…cuz its special…much better than its predecessors.

• Acceleration is superb…you could beat any machine out on the road.
• Handling is superb…with wider tyres…you could just come out of any turning very smoothly.
• Efficiency…best in its category…you can easily get a mileage of upto 40 kmpl in city driving…and something better than this while on the highway.
• Gear shifting is pretty smooth…when you are anything above 4500 rpm…the gears change like butter.
• Brakes…superb…with the rear 130mm mechanically transmitted drum brake and front 260mm hydraulic disc brakes…you can always be sure that you will stop before you hit anything else other than the breaks :).
• Looks…that was the first thing I had in mind when I bought this…so no doubt…its a killer…speacially the one wearing the midnight black colour.

With a better sitting posture and only-toe operated gear lever you could actually think of going long distances on this bike. One more good thing which this bike has got is that you dont have to worry switching off the turn-blinkers/indicators once you have navigated through a turning…they turn off automatically sometime after you turned them on. So, no need to worry for the gadgets on your dashboard…just concentrate on riding.

This bike has done away with kick-start. But dont panick…the self start worked fine even after the bike was standing still for 4 days in rain. The only painful part could be if your the self-start didnt work for some reason. Though it has never failed till now…but have your bike checked-up regularly to avoid any stuck-on-the-highway problems.

Engine of this bike performs better than its older versions. No vibrations even when you are nearing 100 kmph. Thats the best of all the enhancements this new version of the bike has got. Safety has improved with the introduction of tubeless tyres. This does not mean that they wont get punctured, but they are more balanced and do not burst when they get punctured. Other changes in the bike only improve the look factor…and hardly have any effect on the performance.

The best thing about this bike is that it is a great performer everywhere…city…highway…power…cruise…and still does not eat up your money as the mileage is decent enough. This bike is a survivor, as you all might be aware that production of Pulsar 200 has been stopped and prices of Pulsar 220 had to be slashed, but this bike has already been the first love of occasional power riders. And, with so many improvisations in the bike…it is the right time for bike hunters to go for the kill.

Rating: 8/10

Recommended.